TIFTON—With in-person instruction already planned for the fall semester, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will take another bold step when fall classes begin on Aug. 12 by compressing the semester calendar so that ABAC students will get a longer break than usual between the fall and spring terms.
“This new compressed semester calendar allows ABAC to complete a full fall semester of face to face instruction so that students can finish all their classes and final exams prior to Thanksgiving,” ABAC President David Bridges said. “When the students go home for the Thanksgiving break, they will not return to campus until the spring semester in January.
“Students and their parents will save time and money, and since the students will not return to campus after Thanksgiving, the opportunity for a virus outbreak on campus in December will be eliminated.”
Bridges said the extra days during December without students on campus will also give ABAC personnel more time to thoroughly clean residence halls, classrooms, laboratories, and the dining hall.
“I think this compressed semester calendar will be well received by students and their parents,” Bridges said.
ABAC fall semester classes will now end on Nov. 19 instead of Dec. 3. Final exams will be held on Nov. 20-21 and Nov. 23-24. After completing their finals, students will leave the campus until they return for the spring semester which begins on Jan. 11, 2021.
As a part of the revised calendar, ABAC classes will be held on Labor Day on Sept. 7 and on the previously scheduled Fall Break on Oct. 19-20.
Bridges said college personnel are still operating in phase one of the statewide plan to combat the virus, which includes a minimum number of personnel on campus, teleworking, and rotational schedules.
“We’ll begin phase two on June 15 when we bring a limited number of people back to campus,” Bridges said. “By August 3, we’ll have most everyone back on campus including the faculty.”
All 26 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia taught classes online for the final weeks of the spring semester and the existing summer term because of the virus.
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